Replacement stove suggestions - smoke escape

[Mettlemickey]

Hi Everyone,

Apologies for long post!

We have a Lotus Jubilee 35 stove, with a twin wall flu system through a single story extension. We’re looking to replace the stove as we get smoke escaping on reloading.

We’ve had it for 5 years from new and had nothing but trouble with it. The supplier has been and checked the flue multiple times, fitted different cowls etc. They have also checked the stove multiple times, replaced various parts (inc door) and even replaced the entire stove approx 2 years ago. To be fair they’ve tried a lot and haven’t scrimped but the problem persists.

We contacted an independent fitter who installed a chimney fan, that makes a big difference during lighting (lights easily without smoking us out now). But we still get smoke on reloading. The fitter tried a replacement fireproof panel in the inside top of the stove from which he cut off a strip at the front as this is where the smoke is drawn up and out of firebox to the flue system. Theory being a bigger gap allows it to go up better and not escape.

None of this worked and we now resigned that it could just be the design / size of the door allowing smoke to escape escape. Hence we’re minded to cut our losses and replace the stove for a different one. I should add that the stove and flue system always pass the relevant tests (we’re in the UK) for draw (at install, reinstall and at sweeping each year). We also always release the door catch carefully and wait for pressure to adjust before slowly opening the door.

Can anyone recommend a replacement stove that might suit us? I looked at the Invicta Tipee as this can be run with the doors open, but it’s huge and too big for us. Considered a Clearview 650 as we could just open one of the 2 doors to reload, but this requires a 7” flue and ours is only 6”. Also just seen the Vermont Castings Encore that has a top loading hatch to reduce smoke escape. Sounds ideal, but I’ve seen some YouTube videos saying it regularly overburns on the secondary which sounds dangerous….

Does anyone have experience of the Vermont Encore or can you suggest a possible stove for minimising smoke escape?

Thanks in advance for your wisdom everyone.

MM

 

[begreen]

The problem could be with the stove if the draught is somewhat marginal or with the flue height. How tall is the flue system? Different stoves have different drafting needs. I don't know about the Jubilee or Clearview, they are not sold here, but several Canadian stoves work well with less draw on the flue. Can you get Pacific Energy or Regency stoves in the UK?

Note that if the house is very well sealed the stove may be affected. If a door or window is opened a little, does that improve the smoke spillage issue?

 

[Mettlemickey]

The problem could be with the stove if the draught is somewhat marginal or with the flue height. How tall is the flue system? Different stoves have different drafting needs. I don't know about the Jubilee or Clearview, they are not sold here, but several Canadian stoves work well with less draw on the flue. Can you get Pacific Energy or Regency stoves in the UK?

Note that if the house is very well sealed the stove may be affected. If a door or window is opened a little, does that improve the smoke spillage issue?

Thanks for the reply begreen. I did a quick google of Regency and Pacific and only found non UK suppliers. I will look a little deeper, but maybe they are not sold here. We do have a dedicated air inlet directly by the stove, it’s a requirement in the UK if the stove is over a certain size (5kw I think). I wouldn’t say the house / room is particularly well sealed, it’s approx 30 years old, so sealed better than some but not air tight like a lot of modern homes. Some of the gutters have experimented with opening doors / windows etc, but not found anything conclusive.

Any other brands you’d recommend?

 

[begreen]

How tall is the flue system?

 

[Mettlemickey]

How tall is the flue system?

Would need to measure to be sure. I think about 6 meters.

Actually I seem to recall it’s 8 meters, but would have to measure.

 

[begreen]

That's ok. If it's 6-8 meters then the draught should be decent.
Have you looked at Jotul. Dovre, Rais, or Morso stoves?

 

[Mettlemickey]

We looked at Dovre first as we had a Dovre at our old house. That was a great stove but we had a proper fireplace there and it was much smaller than our current room. We have looked at Morso and Jotul too and these look like great stoves, but it’s hard to tell if they would suit us, as many have large doors again, which may or may not be the source of our problem. I haven’t heard of Rais, will check these out.

 

[begreen]

I was thinking the Jotul F500 ECO as an alternative to the Encore. It is primarily a side-loading stove. The big front door is mostly for cold loading and cleaning.
In general terms, a shallow firebox stove with a big front door may be more prone to smoke spillage. The smaller side loading door of the F500 helps mitigate this issue.

 

[joop]

i have a dovre 400 doubt they still make that model,my experience with it is very positive heats 1991 900sqft bungalow in canada ,should look to see if they have a similar model available

 

[joop]

try heating flue with rolled up newsprint before attempting to light it ,helps with draught

 

[Mettlemickey]

I was thinking the Jotul F500 ECO as an alternative to the Encore. It is primarily a side-loading stove. The big front door is mostly for cold loading and cleaning.
In general terms, a shallow firebox stove with a big front door may be more prone to smoke spillage. The smaller side loading door of the F500 helps mitigate this issue.

Thanks, I really like that stove. I guess it becomes less shallow when using the side door as it’s whole width becomes quite a depth from that angle. I like the idea of the side loading. A nice looking stove too. Definitely one to consider 👍

 

[Mettlemickey]

i have a dovre 400 doubt they still make that model,my experience with it is very positive heats 1991 900sqft bungalow in canada ,should look to see if they have a similar model available

That’s a nice looking stove Joop. I like it, but it looks quite similar to the one we have with a big door. I guess you don’t have a smoke issue?

 

[begreen]

That’s a nice looking stove Joop. I like it, but it looks quite similar to the one we have with a big door. I guess you don’t have a smoke issue?

This may be referring to the older, traditional style Dovre 400 which is quite different from the new, contemporary-styled Dovre Bold400. I don't see the traditional 400 listed on Dovre's site anymore.

 

[joop]

ya,mines older style.i notice a lot of uk'ers seem to have same prob .it seems manufacturers make fire visibility priority over function .

 

[Mettlemickey]

ya,mines older style.i notice a lot of uk'ers seem to have same prob .it seems manufacturers make fire visibility priority over function .

Is it this one Joop? I think it might be the one we had at our old house.

 

[joop]

yup thats the one.very good heater,couldn't handle new place so bought another one,ultimate by j.a roby it's a beast but still like my dovre

 

[Mettlemickey]

yup thats the one.very good heater,couldn't handle new place so bought another one,ultimate by j.a roby it's a beast but still like my dovre

That Dovre is a class act, we loved it, but would be too small for our new house. That JA Robey looks nice, probably too big for us, I bet it kicks out some real heat!

 

[joop]

no choice on the roby,old stone house no insulation tried the dovre but literally had to hug it to keep warm lol. amazing the difference insulation makes.

 

[Mettlemickey]

What’s the nominal output of the Roby in kw per hour?

 

[Mettlemickey]

@joop @begreen

You guys got me exploring Dovre a bit further and found this beauty. 9kw per hour nominal output and side loading door. Any thoughts or experiences of this?

Dovre 640WD Wood Burning Stove

The Dovre 640WD wood burner is a well proportioned, classic cast iron stove that features a side loading door, front glass door and a separate ashpan door. The side stove door allows logs of up to 50cm in length to be loaded into the wood burner so that less sawing is required when owners are […]

dovre.co.uk

 

[begreen]

@joop @begreen

You guys got me exploring Dovre a bit further and found this beauty. 9kw per hour nominal output and side loading door. Any thoughts or experiences of this?

Dovre 640WD Wood Burning Stove

The Dovre 640WD wood burner is a well proportioned, classic cast iron stove that features a side loading door, front glass door and a separate ashpan door. The side stove door allows logs of up to 50cm in length to be loaded into the wood burner so that less sawing is required when owners are […]

dovre.co.uk

Sweet looking stove. Unfortunately, Dovre is no longer sold in the US, but I have always liked their quality.

 

[Mettlemickey]

Sweet looking stove. Unfortunately, Dovre is no longer sold in the US, but I have always liked their quality.

Thanks very much for all your advice. I definitely have some more ideas now 👍

 

[joop]

35kw ,i would lean towards the dovre 650.if quality is the same

 

[Mettlemickey]

Wowzers that’s a beast! I’d say you could heat a warehouse with that, but remember what you said about insulation. I will speak to my fitter next week and see what he thinks about these different stoves. I do like Dovre though and we loved our 425 👍